1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory card control apparatus and protection method thereof, and more particularly, to a memory card control apparatus having over-temperature protection or over-current protection and a protection method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To be able to record various types of data, different kinds of memory cards have been developed, such as secure digital (SD) cards, memory stick (MS) cards, compact flash (CF) cards, etc. For users can access the above memory cards conveniently, a memory card control system (i.e. a card reader) capable of reading data from different kinds of memory cards is needed. In general, a common memory card control system has a single-slot structure or multiple-slot structure, wherein the single-slot structure is utilized to access memory cards with a single structure or similar structures, and the multiple-slot structure is utilized to access memory cards of different characteristics. With constant improvements of the data access mechanism, a memory card control system with a multiple-slot structure has become a mainstream specification nowadays.
However, because there are many kinds of memory cards, putting a memory card into a wrong slot will often occur. This causes inner short circuit/errors of the memory card or the memory card control system, and damages inner data contents of the memory card, even resulting in damage to the memory card or the memory card control system. Additionally, improper usage or operational environments such as a high-humidity or high-temperature environment may cause unexpected damages. Therefore, while designing the memory card control system, related protection schemes configured to protect the memory card control system are included to protect the memory card control system, memory card, or inner data contents of the memory card from being damaged. Generally, a conventional over-current protection scheme directly cuts off a power supply corresponding to a slot of the memory card to avoid errors or damage to the memory card control system. However, the power supply corresponding to the slot of the memory card may simultaneously be provided for other parts of the memory card control system. Thus cutting off the power supply corresponding to the slot of the memory card may cause the memory card control system to lose partial operating functions. The related details of this conventional scheme can be found in the specification of Taiwanese patent publication no. 1255090.